What will the mine look like?

The surface mining method proposed would only expose a relatively small area of the lignite deposit at any one time.

A continuously advancing mining method would ensure the size of the mine opening remained relatively smaller than the size opening required for conventional open pit coal mining methods, with the lignite removed from the front of the mine and the waste overburden used to backfill the mined-out sections.

Rehabilitation and re-vegetation will be progressively carried out on all the backfilled areas.

To extract the required 3-3.5 million tonnes of coal per year for the proposed FuturGas facility, the mine opening would be an area of approximately 800 by 400 metres of the lignite seam.